Tupelo man widens perspective from weight loss

TUPELO – Number-wise, Tucker Colburn’s more than 100-pound weight loss is impressive.
The impact the slim-down has made on the Tupelo man’s life, both physically and emotionally, is what’s really staggering.
“I was looking at the world in black and white, and now I’m looking at it in color,” Colburn said. “People treat me differently, and I feel differently.”
In about a year’s time, Colburn’s life made a complete turn-around.
“I started out at 302, in October 2008, and by November of 2009 I was down to 146, the lowest I’ve been since I was, like, 12,” the 26-year-old said.On the journey
In 2008, Colburn’s father encouraged him to check out the Center for Medical Weight Loss. The visit opened his eyes to what was going on with his body.
“I was shocked to see 302 pounds,” and to learn his body fat, which was at 61 percent, he said.
The doctors told him he was morbidly obese, and that he would die, sooner than he’d like and due to his weight, if he didn’t shed the pounds.
Colburn went on a strict, low-calorie diet full of fruits and vegetables, and began exercising.
“After six weeks, I lost 25 to 30 pounds, and I just kept going. At four months I lost 50 pounds,” he said.
Soon, Colburn cut meat from his diet.
“I knew that fast food was my Achilles’ heel,” he said.
He made a New Year’s resolution to subtract meat, alcohol and tobacco, and he’s been a vegetarian since February 2009.
Now at a healthy 175 pounds, with 9 percent body fat, Colburn has done the nearly impossible: not only has he lost more than 100 pounds, but he’s also kept it off.
“What I did, only one out of 20 people can do. Ninety-five percent will put it back on,” he said. “If you want to lose weight, you eat less and exercise more. It’s easy to figure out, not easy to do.”
Colburn admits he cheated on his diet here and there, but ultimately, he overcame the small failures.
“If you take two steps forward and one step back, you’ve still taken a step forward,” he said. “It’s like that saying, it’s OK to fail as long as it eventually leads to success.”
The slim Colburn is more confident and passionate.
“I was such a pessimist, but now I see hope for myself, for my family,” he said. “Now I’m engaged to a beautiful woman and I’m nearly finished with college. I’m going up rather than spiraling down.”
Now that Colburn’s at a good place, both physically and mentally, he’s ready to share the wealth.
He’s now a weight loss consultant.
“I feel great, and I want other people to do want to do it,” he said.
He admits if he had to lose the weight all over again, he’d do it differently: he’d go slower and would make subtle changes to his diet and lifestyle, instead of making such sharp diet and exercise changes right away.
“There does not need to be an extreme. The small changes you make, like from doing something standing up instead of sitting down, make a difference,” he said.
That’s a message he passes on to clients.
“The best way is to start from the beginning, doing it on your own,” he said. “I had that choice every single day, and I make that choice every single day.”
Colburn said he’d be happy if he only helped even one person succeed. After all, it was just one person who put him on the path to healthfulness, and that was his dad, Mitchell.
Mitchell passed away about a month ago, long after his son had achieved the weight loss goal.
“He tried, every day, to motivate me into being a better person,” Colburn said, “and he did.”
Contact Sheena Barnett at (662) 678-1580 or sheena.barnett@journalinc.com.

Contact Tucker
– To learn more about Tucker Colburn’s weight loss consultations, contact him at colburnwmc@gmail.com.